Facade greening can dramatically reduce the temperature of buildings by shading walls from the sun. Walls of plants are also highly effective at trapping dust and airborne pollutants as well as producing oxygen through photosynthesis. Wall planters allow for a large number of plants to be concentrated on the surface of a building. Not only do plants have positive psychological effects for people within the workplace, plants can also remove a range of organic pollutants from enclosed atmospheres, and remedy toxic building syndrome. Plants grown on the exterior of buildings can also protect the surface from solar decay, as well as offer developers tax savings from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points generated by a living wall installation.
Walls filled with a large variety of plants require a structure for supporting their roots, generally within a growth medium, and an irrigation system for providing moisture and nutrients. Individual containers can be used to support plants, however roots tend to become bound and watering is difficult to manage. Other methods include costly frameworks that contain root balls in plastic housings that are heavy and difficult to install. Some systems use pre-grown panels, but these systems take many months to prepare and do not allow for a simple changing out of plants if one of them begins to fail or dies. There are also simple fabric bags that can be hung on the wall, however these can cause rot damage to building structure, as such fabric bags do not allow for air circulation against the building membrane. Other green wall approaches include hydroponic systems that require costly nutrient monitoring devices.
The invention provided herein resolves a number of these issues that limit and complicate the development and proliferation of façade greening.